Dancing with the Stars: A judge favourite eliminated

This contestant got torpedoed off the show despite earning the genuine respect of the judges and winning over many viewers.

The eight remaining couples on "Dancing with the Stars" are seen on stage on Oct. 21, 2013.

By:Bill BriouxSpecial to the Star, Published on Tue Oct 29 2013

Week Seven turned out to be an unlucky number for spunky little Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi on Dancing with the Stars. Len’s little “Pocket Rocket” got torpedoed off the show despite earning the genuine respect of the judges and winning over many viewers.

The former Jersey Shore bad girl worked hard and threw herself into every routine. She truly seemed to be getting better as a dancer each week. On what would be her final show Monday she earned straight 9s from the judges and was singled out for her tumbles, cartwheels and high dive in the night’s team free dance.

The eight remaining pairs were split into two teams for the group event. Polizzi had the bad luck to be in the lesser of the two squads, Team Spooky Bom Bom.

Bill Engvall quarterbacked this Halloween themed, Thriller-like zombie dance, which also featured Leah Remini and Tony Dovolani as well as Elizabeth Berkley Lauren and Val Chmerkovskiy.

The judges were pleased with their effort and Carrie Ann Inaba declared it ‘thoroughly entertaining.” Team Spook scored straight 9s.

Trouble is, Team “Foxing Awesome” nailed their turn and did triple 10s. I thought their dance was Foxing boring — dulled by the inane techno beat dance music — but the crowd loved it and the so did the judges. “Corbin killed it!” shouted Bruno Tonioli and head judge Len Goodman actually stood and applauded both sides.

The team name was taken from a tattoo across Jack Osbourne’s chest that spells something that sounds like “foxing awesome.”

Besides Osbourne, the team consisted of Cheryl Burke, Corbin Bleu, Karina Smirnoff, Brant Daugherty, Peta Murgatroyd, Amber Riley and Derek Hough. Derek, incidentally, has never lost a team dance competition.

The earlier pair dances were the usual mixed bag. Corbin and Karina drew a near perfect score with their precise and perfect Cha Cha. “Immaculate brilliance!” according to Bruno. Carrie Ann called it the “tightest Cha Cha I’ve ever seen.”

Only crabby Len deducted a mark because he was put off by Corbin’s gyrating. “Gyrating is somewhere between rap music and baby crying — I just want it to be over with,” he groused.

Polizzi and Sasha were awarded nines and, really, earned a shot to stay on the show. Engvall and partner Emma Slater have, by far, the lowest judges’ scores to date with Leah and Tony not far behind. Christina Milan, eliminated a few weeks ago, was a better dancer than Engvall, Remini or even Polizzi.

It may be time to ask if this all-in-one-night voting deal really works. Monday’s vote actually carried over from the week before when nobody went home, but still, something seems amiss. Either that, or Engvall’s redneck comedy club fans really do have the quickest speed dial fingers this side of the Ozarks. There also may be something to the theory that Remini is being kept on the show by voters who want to back her stand against Scientology.

Whatever the reason, Polizzi went home in tears Monday night, quite devastated when host Tom Bergeron broke the bad news.

“I can’t even talk,” she sobbed. “I love everybody here.”

Still bloodied up in her Spooky Bom Bom Halloween makeup, she composed herself long enough to ask, “Why am I leaving a zombie?”

To which Bergeron replied, “Zombie’s come back.” Certainly Polizzi seems to have won this competition anyway, if just by how much she has changed people’s perceptions from when she was famous for being a Jersey Shore train wreck.

Next week: Cher is in the house, both as a musical guest and as a judge. Somebody strap Bruno down quick.